He's been petitioning to be included on the Dream Team for years, and they've been rejecting him for the same amount of time. Iverson doesn't match the "image" that the NBA wants to portray. Based on the performance of the last two "Dream Teams", the NBA isn't in a position to refuse a player of Iverson's caliber. However I wouldn't keep begging if I was AI. The NBA and corporate America has shown him what they think about him. I would have more pride than to continue to go where I'm not wanted.

Sources: A.I. not invited to play for USA
PHIL JASNER jasnerp
@phillynews.com

Allen Iverson was, in many ways, the face of the U.S. Olympic basketball team in 2004. He wanted to be there. He played hard, and he played well. Now, he's not even in the picture for the 2008 Games in Beijing.

Contracts from the U.S. Olympic Committee to 22 NBA players, two college players and one high school player went out in the mail about 10 days ago. Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Iverson, a four-time scoring champion in his 10th season with the 76ers, was not in that group.
Before last night's game against the Dallas Mavericks, Iverson said he had not personally received notice, but that he was aware of the situation.

His response?

"Thanks for considering me," he said. "Now, I get to spend time with my kids in the summer."

Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said, "That comes as a surprise to me."

One source confirmed that Iverson, who had said he very much wanted to be part of the 2008 team, was on a list of players who had made a commitment to Jerry Colangelo, the managing director for USA Basketball's senior men's team, but received a letter thanking them for their interest.

Iverson had met with Colangelo on Jan. 4, when the Sixers were in Phoenix. Afterward, Colangelo told reporters, "I liked the look in his eye. He looked me right in the eye and said it really would be an honor for him."

Iverson was easily the MVP of the U.S. team that won the 2003 World Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was far and away the most popular U.S. player. The Americans, though, had to settle for a third-place finish in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"I had a good experience in 2004, but we won the bronze," Iverson said in Phoenix. "I really want to win a gold medal."

Some of the younger players who made commitments but were not selected will be kept in the USA Basketball pipeline as prospective candidates for the 2012 Olympics, and could become part of a Select team that would spend time training together.

"We tried to make the letters as appreciative and professional as possible," one of the sources said. "The idea was to try and bring people down softly."

Colangelo and U.S. head coach Mike Krzyzewski, of Duke, will formally announce the 25 invitees on Sunday on ABC. An eventual team of 12 players will participate in the world championships this summer in Japan. If the U.S. team does not qualify for the 2008 Olympics there, it would have another opportunity in the 2007 Pre-Olympic Tournament.

With the world championships expanded from 16 to 24 teams, the United States has been placed in a preliminary round group with Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Italy, China and Senegal. The Americans will open Aug. 19 against Puerto Rico, the team that stunned the Americans, 92-73, in the opener of the 2004 Olympics.

IF I WERE ANY NBA PLAYER I WOULD NT GO, THEY DONT RESPECT NBA PLAYERS, INTERNATIONAL RULES ARE SET TO GIVE SLOW, WHITE PLAYERS AN ADVANTAGE. AS T. DUNCAN SAID "THE IBF SUCKS".

ALLEN I SHOULD STOP BEGGING TO BE ON TEAM U.S.A. , WHITE AMERICA ROOTED AGAINST THEM ANY WAY. LET THEM FILL THE TEAM WITH BUSTERS LIKE, HEINRICH, BRENT BARY, BRAD MILLER (AS WHITE SPORTS WRITERS ARE SAYING) THEYLL NEVER WIN ANOTHER BRONZE LET ALONE GOLD.

HOWEVER LEBRON JAMES, AND KOBE BRANT BOTH ACCEPTED. PLUS I HEAR THEY WILL BE USING THE SAME TEAM IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. SO BY 2008 THEY WILL HAVE PLAYED TOGETHER FOR A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME. I PREDICT GOLD, IF THEY CAN GET SOME PURE SHOOTERS LIKE MIKE REDD, CHAUNCEE BILLUPS, OR RAY ALLEN.

america,america the more things change the more they stay the same[remember what happened to arsenio hall when he dared to have min.farrakan on his show-his career will never recover...if mj had slept with black kids would there have been such a fuss from white america,ai is a black man who won't be trivailed with and remember black people that at the end of the day when we're finished entertaining them we're still[*******].